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Apple Music Names 100 Best Albums in Music History

Apple Music has released a list of the 100 best albums of all time. According to the service, the list was compiled “with input from artists and experts” in the music industry.

The list of the 100 best albums of all time was compiled with input from songwriters, producers, industry professionals, and a group of award-winning hitmakers like Maren Morris, Pharrell Williams, and J Balvin. The music platform’s team worked with them to determine which albums stand out from the vast amount of music released over the decades.

The company calls the list “an editorial statement entirely independent of any streaming metrics” and “a love letter to the records that have shaped the way music lovers around the world live and listen.” According to Apple Music, these are the albums that have had the most influence on listeners and the music industry itself, defining what music in a particular genre would sound like.

The top spot in the ranking went to neo-soul singer Lauryn Hill’s album “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.” The streaming platform called the singer’s album “a crushingly powerful work” that became “a model of musicality, poetry, and creative honesty.”

Lauryn Hill’s first and only solo studio album shook the music world in 1998: it was a surprisingly authentic, profound reflection of not only the singer’s inner world, but also of the era as a whole. Decades later, “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” still has a huge impact. The artist reveals herself from different sides here: she confidently raps and sings with a luxurious gospel intonation, like the best soul singers of the past.

The depth of the songs is impressive, especially considering that at that time, the creativity of black women seemed schematic and one-sided. Hill described her ups and downs so openly and in such a unique manner that “Miseducation” turned into a universal statement about life. This devastatingly powerful work became a model of musicality, poetry and creative honesty for generations to come.

Apple Music

Michael Jackson’s album “Thriller” is in second place. According to the compilers of the top, the “epochal record” defined the scale and further development of all pop music.

Michael Jackson’s 1982 album Thriller symbolized a cultural transition. Few releases — or works of art, for that matter — have done so. Emphasizing the record’s impact on the singer-wunderkind’s career and turning him into an R&B hitmaker risks downplaying its impact on the music industry as a whole.

Apple Music

The Beatles’ “Abbey Road” is in third place on the chart. The service’s editors noted that the album is a “portal to the band’s universe,” instantly painting “an image of four gifted people playing one unforgettable song after another together.”

The list also includes albums by Kendrick Lamar, Rage Against The Machine, Fleetwood Mac, Radiohead, Bob Dylan, Daft Punk, and Taylor Swift. You can see the full list of the best albums according to the streaming service on a separate Apple Music page. There are also links to the works themselves for listening within the platform.

Apple Music’s 100 Best Albums in Music History

  • 1. “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” — Lauryn Hill
  • 2. “Thriller” — Michael Jackson
  • 3. “Abbey Road” — The Beatles
  • 4. “Purple Rain” — Prince and The Revolution
  • 5. “blond” — Frank Ocean
  • 6. “Songs in the Key of Life” — Stevie Wonder
  • 7. “good kid, m.A.A.d city” — Kendrick Lamar
  • 8. “Back to Black” — Amy Winehouse
  • 9. “Nevermind” — Nirvana
  • 10. “Lemonade” — Beyoncé
  • 11. “Rumours” — Fleetwood Mac
  • 12. “OK Computer” — Radiohead
  • 13. “The Blueprint” — Jay-Z
  • 14. “Highway 61 Revisited” — Bob Dylan
  • 15. “21” — Adele
  • 16. “Blue” — Joni Mitchell
  • 17. “What’s Going On” — Marvin Gaye
  • 18. “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” — Taylor Swift
  • 19. “The Chronic” — Dr. Dre
  • 20. “Pet Sounds” — The Beach Boys
  • 21. “Revolver” — The Beatles
  • 22. “Born to Run” — Bruce Springsteen
  • 23. “Discovery” — Daft Punk
  • 24. “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars (2012 Remaster)” — David Bowie
  • 25. “Kind of Blue” — Miles Davis
  • 26. “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” — Kanye West
  • 27. “Led Zeppelin II” — Led Zeppelin
  • 28. “The Dark Side of the Moon” — Pink Floyd
  • 29. “The Low End Theory” — A Tribe Called Quest
  • 30. “WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?” — Billie Eilish
  • 31. “Jagged Little Pill (Remastered)” — Alanis Morissette
  • 32. “Ready to Die (The Remaster)” — Notorious B.I.G.
  • 33. “Kid A” — Radiohead
  • 34. “It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back” — Public Enemy
  • 35. “London Calling” — The Clash
  • 36. “BEYONCÉ” — Beyoncé
  • 37. “Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) (Expanded Edition) — Wu-Tang Clan
  • 38. “Tapestry” — Carole King
  • 39. “Illmatic” — Nas
  • 40. “I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You” — Aretha Franklin
  • 41. “Aquemini” — OutKast
  • 42. “Control” — Janet Jackson
  • 43. “Remain in Light” — Talking Heads
  • 44. “Innervisions” — Stevie Wonder
  • 45. “Homogenic” — Björk
  • 46. “Exodus (2013 Remaster)” — Bob Marley & The Wailers
  • 47. “Take Care (Deluxe Version)” — Drake
  • 48. “Paul’s Boutique” — Beastie Boys
  • 49. “The Joshua Tree” — U2
  • 50. “Hounds of Love (2018 Remaster)” — Kate Bush
  • 51. “Sign O’The Times” — Prince
  • 52. “Appetite for Destruction” — Guns ‘N Roses
  • 53. “Exile on Main Street (2010 Remaster)” — The Rolling Stones
  • 54. “A Love Supreme” — John Coltrane
  • 55. “ANTI” — Rihanna
  • 56. “Disintegration (Remastered)” — The Cure
  • 57. “Voodoo” — D’Angelo
  • 58. “(What’s The Story) Morning Glory” — Oasis
  • 59. “AM” — Arctic Monkeys
  • 60. “The Velvet Underground and Nico (45th Anniversary Edition)” — Velvet Underground & Nico
  • 61. “Love Deluxe” — Sade
  • 62. “All Eyez on Me” — 2Pac
  • 63. “Are You Experienced?” — The Jimi Hendrix Experience
  • 64. “Baduizm” — Erykah Badu
  • 65: “3 Feet High and Rising” — De La Soul
  • 66: “The Queen Is Dead” — The Smiths
  • 67. “Dummy” — Portishead
  • 68. “Is this It” — The Strokes
  • 69. “Master of Puppets (Remastered)” — Metallica
  • 70. “Straight Outta Compton” — N.W.A
  • 71. “Trans-Europe Express” — Kraftwerk
  • 72. “SOS” — SZA
  • 73. “Aja” — Steely Dan
  • 74. “Downward Spiral” — Nine Inch Nails
  • 75. “Supa Dupa Fly” — Missy Eliott
  • 76. “Un Verano Sin Ti” — Bad Bunny
  • 77. “Like A Prayer” — Madonna
  • 78. “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” — Elton John
  • 79. “Norman F****** Rockwell!” — Lana Del Rey
  • 80. “The Marshall Mathers LP” — Eminem
  • 81. “After the Gold Rush” — Neil Young
  • 82. “Get Rich or Die Tryin’” — 50 Cent
  • 83. “Horses” — Patti Smith
  • 84. “Doggystyle” — Snoop Dogg
  • 85. “Golden Hour” — Kacey Musgraves
  • 86. “My Life” — Mary J Blige
  • 87. “Blue Lines” — Massive Attack
  • 88. “I Put a Spell on You” — Nina Simone
  • 89. “The Fame Monster (Deluxe Edition)” — Lady Gaga
  • 90. “Back in Black” — AC/DC
  • 91. “Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1” — George Michael
  • 92. “Flower Boy” — Tyler, The Creator
  • 93. “A Seat at the Table” — Solange
  • 94. “Untrue” — Burial
  • 95. “Confessions” — USHER
  • 96. “Pure Heroine” — Lorde
  • 97. “Rage Against The Machine” — Rage Against The Machine
  • 98. “ASTROWORLD” — Travis Scott
  • 99. “Hotel California” — The Eagles
  • 100. “Body Talk” — Robyn